Cristina Carbajo

YOKOMO

A SWEET CRICKET-BASED SNACK FOR WOMEN

2018

Responsibilities: Product Development, User Research, Brand Campaign Direction, Packaging Design

Collaborators: Aspire Food Group, Chef Margaux Step, Nutritionists Rachel Gibson and Yvonne McMeel, Photographer Jonathan Chan

Features: The Victoria & Albert Museum Sustainable Food Futures pop-up 2019, London Design Festival 2018

Context

Cricket-based products are on the rise as more consumers are becoming increasingly environmentally conscious and curious about alternative sources of that are more sustainable to produce.

Challenge

The majority of cricket-based products on the market target predominantly male “fitness aficionados” and “gym-goers” by emphasising the high protein content of crickets. Commonly found in the form of cereal bar snacks, these products are more expensive than your average tasty cereal bar. Meanwhile, there is still a lot of stigma against insect based ingredients.

Opportunity

To develop a premium snack product with a totally different target market and USP - a sweet snack for iron deficient women. Turns out, cricket powder is not only super high in protein, but packed with iron. In turn, 40% of women in the U.K. and U.S. aged 16-49 are iron deficient. There are also little to no food snacks on the market that specifically tackle iron-deficient women.

The Product

Yokomo / (yo-ko-mo) / = derivative of Spanish phrase “Yo Como” meaning “I eat.”

A sweet snack using iron-rich cricket powder to tackle women's iron deficiency. Cricket powder is rich in iron and bioavailable, making it the ideal ingredient for keeping women strong and healthy. Just one pack of Y O K O M O contains 4.8mg of iron, 30% of a woman’s average recommended daily allowance of 16-18mg.

WHY IRON?

Women need more iron to make up for the amount they lose during their menstrual period. Without enough iron, women cannot produce hemoglobin needed to deliver oxygen, resulting in fatigue and in extreme cases, anemia. Cricket powder is a highly bioavailable and rich source of iron, protein and calcium. Iron from cricket powder is also absorbed twice as well as iron from plant foods.  

Inspired by the quality and minimalism behind Japanese cuisine, Y O K O M O only contains 4 ingredients, all of which are dairy, gluten and nut free. The best part? Y O K O M O's bite sized iron-rich treats taste just like truffles.

WHY CRICKET POWDER?

Cricket powder is rich in iron, protein, calcium and vitamin B12. Plus, farming crickets is not damaging to the environment. They take up approximately 2000x less land and water to farm compared to other sources of iron such as beef, and up to 1000x less compared to other plant proteins. Plus, it’s naturally nutty flavour tastes great!

What makes cricket powder better than any other source of iron? Our human gut absorbs iron more efficiently from cricket powder than beef or other plant proteins or iron supplements.

One pack of Y O K O M O contains 30% of a woman’s recommended daily allowance of iron (4.8mg), through 140g worth of bite size balls, making Y O K O M O a premium sweet health snack unlike any on the market.

Y O K O M O has received fantastic feedback from focus groups and was exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Exhibition Road Festival, London 2019.

PROJECT STRATEGY + INSIGHTS

• A high percentage of women are iron deficient (due to menstruation and pregnancy).

• There are little to no iron-rich snacks on the market that address women

• Currently cricket based snacks solely focus on the protein content and the brand narrative is around fitness

• Cricket powder tastes really good when combined with cacao powder

• Branding the product as a premium* snack with clean graphic packaging increased the acceptance of the cricket ingredient

• *Part of the food design and testing took place in Tokyo, Japan. Initial testing rounds showed that branding the product as Japanese increased the premium expectation of the product in both Tokyo and London